Federal petition to address MP-spread misinformation reaches 40k signatures

Whereas:

• Members of Parliament (MPs) have been accused of making important public statements that are false and without evidence;
• Misinformation is a growing threat to the proper functioning of, as well as faith in, our democratic process;
• A mechanism is needed to verify MPs’ public statements to maintain trust in our governing body;
• Artificial Intelligence is amplifying misinformation;
• Current events in the United States demonstrate the dangers of not addressing this problem; and
• The Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR) of Wales, UK, proposed a white paper entitled “A Model for Political Honesty,” created because “the Welsh Government will bring forward legislation before 2026 for the disqualification of Members and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception through an independent judicial process and will invite the committee to make proposals to that effect.”

We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to propose a bill to address the issue of perceived and actual misinformation being presented by MPs to the public, provided that such a bill could be informed by details outlined in the white paper proposed by the ICDR.

Petition e-6679

Initiated by Federico Sanchez from Toronto, Ontario and sponsored by Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Karim Bardeesy.